"Legless Air Ace" takes to the skies again…

Friday, November 13th, 2009

By Jim Luksic

(Valley Journal staff writer)

It’s a Friday morning in early November and Les Mason is adjusting his model airplane.

Instructor and airplane builder Les Mason, left, and Santa Barbara Remote Control Modelers president Tom Wolf put the final touches on Hawker Hurricane last Friday before sending it skyward. – Photos by Jim Luksic

But this isn’t any old toy, and the British native isn’t tooling around in his basement.

Mason stands poised outside a hangar in the Valley, tinkering with a replica of Hawker Hurricane — legless pilot Douglas Bader’s bird of choice during World War II.

“He was my boyhood hero,” Mason says of Bader, who flew for the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. “If not for those men, we might all be speaking German.”

Admiration is why his version of Hawker Hurricane includes a tiny pilot resembling the erstwhile famous flyer. But Mason’s love of airplanes goes beyond their history.

“What fascinates me are the engineering facets,” says Mason, a mechanical engineer and motorcycle draftsman who moved to California 20 years ago. “You must really know the mechanics and aerodynamics. My motto is, if you wouldn’t fly in the plane, don’t fly it either.”

Observing and assisting this day is Tom Wolf, president of the Santa Barbara Remote Control Modelers, a group that promotes the hobby of aviation by instructing prospective pilots.

There’s a mild breeze sweeping through the swath of property and a high, blue sky with traces of clouds marbling it. It’s an idyllic time for Hawker Hurricane to take flight, with Wolf handling the radio controller.

A tweak here, a touch-up there. Mason manually spins the propeller, and then Wolf takes over with a control box. Moments after a real airplane has touched down and vacated the runway, Mason’s prized creation is soaring through the air up there: The expected result for a large, gas-powered machine that took thousands of dollars — and no shortage of labor — to get off the ground.

Suddenly, a crosswind causes a noticeable swing to the left. It isn’t long before this seasoned pair of remote-control modelers detect a problem and thus direct Hurricane back to terra firma.

Mason watches as the model plane lands. After getting into the air, the plane began to sound as though it was losing power, so the men landed it and investigated.

“The engine sounded like it was losing power, so I decided to land it,” says Wolf, whose curiosity with airplanes dates to his childhood in Ventura. “We need to figure out what’s wrong.”

It’s precisely the type of situation Wolf hopes up-and-comers don’t encounter; hence the need for his Santa Barbara organization.

“Without proper instruction, many beginners crash their airplanes, get discouraged and perhaps abandon the hobby,” he explains. The instruction program is free, but a participant must first belong to the Academy of Model Aeronautics and SBRCM.

The latter club, which was founded in the 1950s and set up shop in the Valley during the late 1980s, now has 85 members hailing from Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, Caprinteria and beyond. Four times per year at Lake Cachuma, the group conducts “float flys” that entail sea planes and flying boats flown off the water near Mohawk Shores. (The next such event is slated for March.)

To become a solo pilot, says Wolf, requires about a dozen flights with dual training. Younger enthusiasts, he points out, tend to learn the fastest because of the hand-eye coordination they develop from playing computer games. In fact, a few kids can go it alone after just two flights, whereas full-size aircraft pilots sometimes have more difficulty adjusting to remote-control models.

“I’m not sure why that is,” Wolf says, “but one might speculate experienced flyers have pre-conceived ideas about it, and they are probably too overconfident.”

Having no such problem is Chris Spangenberg, a pilot from Camarillo whose interest in aviation — just like Wolf’s — stems from his boyhood days about a half-century ago. When not serving the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, he enjoys building accurate, to-scale replicas.

“You can allow yourself to see the actual full-size airplane — it’s magical,” Spangenberg says, noting the endeavor can lead to careers and is also a good history lesson.

Model airplanes flown at the club’s site typically weigh between five and eight pounds with wing spans in the range of 55 to 65 inches. They cost about $300 to $500 to build, according to Wolf. Big-ticket items, such as engines and radios, are reusable from plane to plane; that way, in the event of a crash, the whole investment won’t be lost. Small electrical aircrafts, suitable for parks and school yards, generally have price tags of less than $200.

Regardless of the remote-control model, he says, landing is always the toughest task for a novice pilot because one is lined up with the runway while the aircraft is coming toward him or her. (It’s the opposite effect of when you’re actually in the cockpit, explains Wolf.)

“And the airplane is low to the ground, which leaves no margin for error,” he says.

That brings us back to Hawker Hurricane’s better-safe-than-sorry grounding last Friday. Conversation and speculation about throttles, rudders and other components fill the air.

As it turns out, the culprit was too much heat pressure causing a small gap in a conduit.

“That’s the reason it acted funny,” Mason confirms.

“Congratulations,” Spangenberg says, adding with a grin: “You still have an airplane.”

Mason’s miniature version of the legless British pilot shown in detail.

(Thanks to Jim Luksic for giving us permission to use his article)